Reviewed on Saturday August 6

School was out at the Oxford Art Factory last Saturday as a cohort of bright young things flaunted their musical maturity to both inspire and make all Gen Ys in the vicinity feel woefully inadequate.

First up was Stay At Home Son, the electro-indie project of newcomer Jesse Martin-Allen, the first to be signed to Japanese Wallpaper’s self-started record label, Neat Lawn. (Seriously, is there anything Mr Wallpaper, AKA Gab Strum, can’t do?). SAHS served up an array of swollen synth-pop, sprinkled with new wave vibes and all anchored by Martin-Allen’s baritone vocals. It’s a sound somewhere between The National and, unsurprisingly, Japanese Wallpaper’s own ambient aesthetic, but if the music of the latter embodies the optimism, rush and sweetness of a sugar high, SAHS’s sound is the cool, calm and collected comedown.

Next in the evening’s dose of disproportionally-skilled youngsters was Melanie Bester, better known as E^ST. This Central Coast pocket rocket punched through a tight set of bangers with pep and panache well beyond her years. From the Caribbean inflected ‘Get Money!’ to slow jam ‘Monster’, E^ST’s unique cocktail of beats and gritty vocals is deserving of the Lorde-like comparisons (if Lorde cracked a Red Bull or two when performing). No wonder the industry is eyeballing this teen’s every move.

By the time our bespectacled, flat-capped friend arrived there was barely room to scratch your left nostril. The sold-out venue was just one Japanese Wallpaper would come to face during his national Cocoon tour, yet Gab Strums’ signature coyness remained intact. The major change was his accompaniment – once a lone ranger behind a laptop and keys, the 18-year-old now performed flanked by a three piece, a shift that saw his singles delving deeper into pop territory.

Shimmering opener and new cut ‘Ready / Waiting’ featured Strum’s vocals front and center, exposed without shrouds of delay. Crowd favourites ‘Forces’ and ‘Between Friends’ were enlivened with keening guitar work, while new number ‘Fooling Around’ had looped electro-beats cave to a full-blown, full-kit drum solo. This fusion of raw and digital elements spread into a slow blooming cover of Bjork’s ‘Hyperballad’ too.

Japanese Wallpaper’s performances are an evolving beast, but the experience of being cocooned by those lush, layered sounds remains as oddly uplifting as ever.

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